Travel Souvenirs that Matter
It is impossible to be a light traveler when you have to bring a suitcase full of scuba-gear for scuba diving. On top of the diving gear, Dutchie and I carry my underwater photography kits. However this does not stop us (or maybe I should say it’s me) to buy souvenirs from countries that we visit. Usually I choose souvenirs that remind us of the characteristic of the place and I try to keep it as light as possible. Additionally we receive travel souvenirs from our dear friends and I treasure each of their presents as reminder that they thought of us during their travel 🙂
Fridge Magnets Series
My first travel souvenir collection were fridge magnets. Simply because they are cheap and light. Hah! But wait, at the beginning I was very selective in choosing fridge magnets, they should have a thermometer! If I could not find one then I would buy a funny looking magnet. I have a variation of thermometer magnets but my favorite ones are the ones of a specific thermometer magnet series. Dutchie contributed one fridge magnet from Canada that matched to the series. It was a simple travel gift but it made me super happy. The thermometers show different temperatures and I am not sure which one is correct. Mostlikely none of them.
I also like miniature stuff that resembles the character of the country. I took Rule of Thirds pictures of them with external flash and dining lights as background. Can you guess from which countries they came from?
Snowballs Specials
Another travel souvenir collection are snowballs. It has became a favorite travel present from our friends. Our dear friends who are hardcore travelers but without blog, often brought us the snowballs. I love the huge snowball that they brought us from Argentine and the small ones from the Dutch islands, Texel and Terschelling. They remind me of their travel stories 🙂 And I do hope someday to visit Argentine.
Two Indonesian masks are on our wall. These masks are from two islands in Indonesia that close to my heart : Bali and Java. The Balinese mask that I have here is Barong Ket or Lion Barong. Barong Ket is a famous character in Balinese mythology symbolizing a good spirit that protect forests. Meanwhile the Javanese batik mask is originally from Yogyakarta. The batik mask idea was started by Sajiman, an art-craftsman from Bobung village in Yogyakarta. The mask is also called as Bobung wooden mask, named after Sajiman’s village.
Finally, we do have two unusual souvenirs, the first one was from Dutchie’s best friend from his travel to South East Asia and I thought it is the funniest souvenir item we ever had. The second is sharks teeth from Cuba! They were given by our scuba diving guides who spotted the teeth during the dives. I would not be able to find these sharks teeth myself. The shark teeth remind me of great sharks diving in Jardines de la Reina. I hope someday we will return.
Do you have travel souvenirs that matter and collect them on special way? Maybe Starbuck glasses, hotel’s cards, bracelets or something else? Why not sharing the story on your blog? Inspire us! I will share your travel souvenirs post via Twitter @indie_dive and Facebook page @indahstravelphotography but please do let me know via ping/link back to this post or leave the link of your post on the comment 🙂
indahs: dive, travel & photography 
Indah, love your magnet and mask collection. Reminds me of our overflowing souvenir collection of wherever we’ve been!
my kind of souvenir has almost always been in the form of something edible. to me, as a foodie, food reflects the culture of the place it comes from. never mind it is not something that is to be kept or displayed. the memory of the lingering flavors live well in one’s memory and create a longing for one to visit or return to that particular place.